2025 in Review

If I am being honest, this past year was so full, I am not sure how to process it all. My last post was on August 12th - my son’s 23rd Birthday. Before that felt like “Life As Usual.” But a few days later things took a bit of a right hook.

Johnny and I have been together for 6 years this summer. Through those years, he has been dealing with some aging parent issues and end-of-life things that turned plans on it’s head.

On August 28th, about 3 weeks before I was scheduled to leave for a 2 week trip to England to see family, he met with some financial planners that said, “You really should go ahead and get married before the end of the year.”

When he told me this, I had just come off a photoshoot. My head was spinning from that. And I wasn’t sure what to think.

“Let’s talk tonight…we can figure something out.”

Within 2 weeks I had sorted a location, a date, a dress, some food, and a loose plan - that meant we would be getting married in 8 short weeks. And somehow it happened. We married on November 1st in a small ceremony that included our kids, our dog, and our Scott.

But that wasn’t all that happened this year. I lost some clients and I partnered with some new people. I worked hard and played even harder. And somehow the universe allowed it all to happen.

If I could tell you one thing about the lessons this year has brought me is that this life isn’t on our time schedule. There is something else in control…This, I know. But what I did learn is all the hoping and wishing and planning and playing and working and grinding and commitment to myself and faith and hope and huge love I have to give has somehow brought me exactly where I needed to be.

Johnny’s vows to me during our wedding were taken from the song “This Must Be The Place” by the Talking Heads. Below are a few photos from the day and this year. I couldn’t feel more gratitude than I do right here, right now in this body I call home.

”Home is where I want to be
Pick me up and turn me round
I feel numb, born with a weak heart
I guess I must be having fun

The less we say about it the better
Make it up as we go along
Feet on the ground, head in the sky
It's okay, I know nothing's wrong

I got plenty of time
you got light in your eyes
And you're standing here beside me
I love the passing of time

Never for money, always for love
Cover us and say goodnight”

<3

Wedding location - City Scape Winery in GVL

One of my top moments of the year.

If you know…

London Scene

London scene

Summering at the Lake in Columbia.

On Location

On Location

If I could bottle a moment from this year, it would be this one.

On Location

On Location!

Wouldn’t be summer without a few concerts

Can’t go to Texas and not shop for boots!

A classic shot of the coolest dude I know…

There is truly so much I have to be grateful for. I just don’t even know where it starts and where it ends.

Wishing us all the joy and peace this new year will bring!

For Graham.

I want to be
where the sand meets the sea
where it’s just you and me
dreaming and wondering of what could be.

I want to go
where memories won’t know
how fast you grow
or my sorrow.

I want to take you
to a place we once knew
where the skies are so blue
and it was just we two.

Sliver

This was a test shot as I was walking out the door a few days ago. I almost threw it away. But look at the magic it created.

Sometimes, all it takes to grow is that sliver of light you let shine into your heart. Day by day, week by week, the light gets in and makes real change that can only be witnessed with patience and time and perseverance.

The gentle sliver warms the space it needs to and suddenly you are new again.  Thriving. Growing. Stretching towards that accidental slice of golden light. 

And before you know it, you are growing. And changing. And ready to be transplanted into a new place full of sunshine and light and delicious space.

And all it took was a sliver of light to get you through.

Breaking down

There is a remarkable beauty in the breaking down.

Press Pause.

There is no time to worry when you press pause for a moment and take it all in.

Breathe in peace. Breathe out fear.
Breathe in calm. Breathe out angst.
Breathe in love. Breathe out hate.

Just breathe it in.

By the sea

We are happy by the sea.
Just you and me.
And a friend
or three.
Let's stay here and dance
in the waves
and romance
the notion of better days
and better nights ahead.
 

Skyward

“Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.”  Leonardo da Vinci
 

Winds of Change

The winds of change are coming. Blowing in from a new direction and bringing with it the waters to wash away the dust and debris that remains. Don't be afraid, friend. Embrace it - the wind, the rain, the dark times. The storm can be a bumpy ride. But in the end, the sunshine will come out and shine it's magical light in all the places that were once covered up and waiting to be found again.

After the Storm

After The Storm
Mumford and Sons
 

And after the storm,
I run and run as the rains come
And I look up, I look up,
on my knees and out of luck,
I look up.

Night has always pushed up day
You must know life to see decay
But I won't rot, I won't rot
Not this mind and not this heart,
I won't rot.

And I took you by the hand
And we stood tall,
And remembered our own land,
What we lived for.

There will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.

And now I cling to what I knew
I saw exactly what was true
But oh no more.
That's why I hold,
That's why I hold with all I have.
That's why I hold.

And I won't die alone and be left there.
Well I guess I'll just go home,
Oh God knows where.
Because death is just so full and man so small.
Well I'm scared of what's behind and what's before.

And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.

And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.

There is only love.

Some days I want to jump in and swim to the other side. Float into the land of glee and ease where the clouds are made of cotton candy and the stars twinkle like diamonds in the night sky.

In my mind, the other side is cool and sunny with soft grass beneath your feet. It's filled with music and laughter, with the right amounts of everything. The other side has just enough of everything, but never too much of anything.

On the other side there is no pain or hurt. There is no anger. No frustrations. On the other side, there is only love.

There is only love.

Love After Love

LOVE AFTER LOVE
by Derek Walcott

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

Tulips

“A tulip doesn’t strive to impress anyone. It doesn’t struggle to be different than a rose. It doesn’t have to. It is different. And there’s room in the garden for every flower..." Marianne Williamson

Love Cake

Love - in it's purest form - is iced with joy-flavored frosting.

So cut a big piece, dig in, and savor every morsel.

Happy Weekend friends.

xo

look...and see.

Mysteries, Yes

Truly, we live with mysteries too marvelous
to be understood.

How grass can be nourishing in the
mouths of the lambs.
How rivers and stones are forever
in allegiance with gravity,
while we ourselves dream of rising.

How two hands touch and the bonds
will never be broken.
How people come, from delight or the
scars of damage,
to the comfort of a poem.

Let me keep my distance, always, from those
who think they have the answers.

Let me keep company always with those who say
"Look!" and laugh in astonishment,
and bow their heads.

—Mary Oliver

Before the frost

It's time to harvest and gather. Time to reap what we sow. It's time to duck from the hardships and collect what we need. Preparing for the frosts is never easy. But we do what we can and learn a little more every time.

It's time to hunker down and prepare for the hard freeze ahead. It's time to do the hard work. The real work. The dirty work.

Take care.

Morning rituals - fresh juice and avocado toast on Ezekiel bread. Sunday bacon for the win.

Take care of yourself. Kindly and with purpose. Gently over breakfast, or fiercely over your morning sweat. Take time for rest. Spend moments on yourself. Eat. Sleep. Play. Work. Find some spiritual center - in God, or on the beach, or a under a leaf. Find a place that you feel really small. Find a place that you feel really big. They are both really important to finding the balance we all strive for.

Just take the time to take the care of you that you deserve. You are worth it.

Sunset

"Clouds come floating into my life - no longer to carry rain or usher storm - but to add color to my sunset sky." R.Tagore

I have been on the slippery slope of sickness today - sliding down it's icy face with no hope. Despite being on a rapid decline downward, I watched the sunset from my dining room this evening and thought about good things - love and hope and family and sunsets. And I somehow let the sun take away all the sickness and pain and bad thoughts away - slipping into the darkness never to be seen again.

Thank you Sun. Until we meet again...

The Intern

So... my son has to do an internship for a week with his school. They have to show up at a real-life job and do real-life job things. Today was my little guy's first day on the job as photographer's assistant. And since we couldn't find other friends/family/suckers to take him, I am the boss.

Here he is...Day 1. Reporting for duty!  "Seriously dude. Wake up already. Its 8:00 AM and I have accomplished about 40 things already."

I kid...this is what my intern really looked like today:

Just a few hours in and he was editing photos in a program he had never used before. He mastered that software like he'd been doing it all his life - LIKE A BOSS. What's even more awesome is that he is a perfectionist (Mom...that's not in focus! *sigh*) and a good worker! I am super proud of him today.

Tomorrow, we have an exciting shoot and some additional fun things on the books for the rest of the week. So I am looking forward to a fun and fruitful week with my main man.

Stay tuned for more adventures this week in interning.

Slow it down.

All of life is just passing us by in a moment - whizzing around me at top speeds as we wind our way up the glorious summit. And all I want to do is stop the car, smell the fresh air, pick some wildflowers and watch some of the clouds wander aimlessly by. All I want to do is slow it down.

Below my Feet

"And now I sleep.
Sleep the hours that I can't weep.
When all I knew was steeped in blackened holes.
I was lost.

Keep the earth below my feet.
For all my sweat, my blood runs weak.
Let me learn from where I have been.
Keep my eyes to serve my hands to learn.
Keep my eyes to serve my hands to learn."

Below My Feet, Mumford & Sons.